Dear Reader,
How are you today? Any good plans for the weekend?
Walked the puppy outside under the watchful eye of a fluffed up mocking bird. It’s chilly and crisp and bright with a clear blue sky–all in all, just a day that I’m appreciating.
I was just reading an article about the latest in flu strain-fashion (man, there seem to be so many) and my heart is going out to all of those infected and their loved ones, especially those currently in mourning.
Reader, I hope you stay healthy and happy.
Our family’s been doing the hospital (not contagious, knock on wood) dance and so have some of my friends, which does lead me to the question–is there a sale on pregnancy tests?
I had to take one before a doctor at urgent care would give me an antibiotic for the cold. (Good news, no immaculate conception here.) I thought it was–well, honestly, a little insulting, but who am I to thwart new protocol?
But then a friend of mine went and got a hysterectomy. She’s had to go back to the ER multiple times in the month since and first thing they do? Pregnancy test. Multiple visits. Multiple tests. Pre and post op. Even the day after the surgery. They obviously know she’s smuggling a baby in there somewhere and they’re going to make her admit it. It makes me wonder–was there a sale? Did they overestimate the latest baby boom and are now trying to get rid of the tests to help clear up storage space? At this point, I’m little curious if they’re even worried about gender. Maybe it’s an Oprah-esque– “You get a pregnancy test! And you get a pregnancy test! And you get a pregnancy test!” type of moment. Men, women, children–everyone gets one!
It seems I have developed a writing partner. He’s my fuzzy little buddy, stretching out across my lap and putting little white hairs on my clothes and keyboard. It’s a wonder this little sucker isn’t bald. But apparently, I don’t ever have to do this writing thing alone. He’s got my lap. 🙂
I think I’ll go do some plotting on an idea I’ve got and maybe follow this little guy’s example and catch some z’s.
I hope this finds you well. Stay safe!
Love,
Echo

Dear Reader,
I hope this post finds you happy and healthy and filled with good cheer.
It’s chilly, but sunshiny here–the type where you’re happy to take the puppy out, but find yourself searching for a warm patch of sunlight and a tree to brace against to cut the cold.
Things here are–well, not going especially well, but they’re moving and in a positive direction which I’m appreciating. I have a friend in management and she’s really generous about sharing any articles with me that she finds helpful, and I often find the subject matter transferrable to my own day-to-day, though sadly, I can’t seem to put my ideas into practice. Bypassing a deadline, or any of life’s multitude of little minutiae details can sometimes drive me batty and they just don’t seem to understand that I’m in charge. I’ve had this conversation with the sink dishes. Occasionally, I even slap the crap out of them with a rag and a towel, and, when they’re really asking for it, I rub some bleach powder into their little dishy eyes. And yet those dirty bastards keep reappearing. Really, you’ve got to admire their tenacity. I’m a little bit of the mindset of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” but I just don’t fit in the sink.
Alas, enough of my ramblings. I’m off to tackle the day!
May your day be well!
Love,
Echo

Dear Reader,
I hope you’re feeling fit and healthy and all is going well. We don’t really have sunshine here as much as an overcast not-quite rain, so if you have our sunlight, I hope you’re enjoying it! But our weather was dry enough to do some tinkering around in the yard earlier, which I enjoyed.

Right now our house is filled with the smell of the hamburger I’m cooking and I’m salivating over the idea of Worcestershire sauce and mushrooms and hamburger, though not necessarily this hamburger. The ones I’m cooking now, are some of those preformed burgers with “extra value” on the package. I’m not too sure how much value I want with my burger. *Side note, they are decidedly not hamburgers. More like hamburger flavored meat. Not exactly what I was craving, but apparently I just need a Worcestershire/mushroom delivery system.
​
Question: (not hamburger related) does anyone know of anything to help with nausea? My mom always has it and my friend has had a really bad case of it for the past few weeks. So far, promethazine, Zofran, Dramamine, and ginger aren’t cutting it. Any other ideas? I figured you might know.
I’d better get going. I’ve been pretty physically active today, but my job by it’s nature demands that I stop flitting around and do some typing.
On with the day!
Stay well, dear Reader. I’m wishing you goodness!
Love,
Echo

Dear Reader,
How have you been since we last spoke? I hope all has been well.
This isn’t the only correspondence I’ve been neglecting as of late, though a part of me wonders if I should ever take the other back up. That one was a bi-weekly/monthly email to a friend that I hold very dear. Two years ago, I wrote her as I’d been doing for years—and she reintroduced herself to me. She kindly explained her life and who she was, and asked if I was sure I didn’t have the wrong person.
She was exactly the kind and eloquent woman she had always been and it was absolutely clear that she had no idea at all who I was.
And I cried. And cried some more. Pulled myself together and reintroduced myself and how she knew me. And I attempted other letters, letters where I reintroduced myself at the beginning of each and then after getting no response, I found myself a little lost as to what to do next.
She’d told me plenty of times that she was getting older and her head wasn’t what it used to be and I waved it away and told her she was just fine, and… Now what? Do I write her and remind her there’s a portion of her life that she doesn’t remember? Do the emails go through? Or am I just talking into the wind?
I hold her so dearly in my heart. I always will. I guess that’s why, two years later, I find myself on pause as to whether or not to write her again. To possibly re-open an old wound or to find some warmth of the friendship we’ll always share, even if memory makes its edges murky. I wish I knew what was best.
I’m afraid my absence from here has a different cause, though it’s rather foolish: I find myself pretty damned boring. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.
So because of own insecurities and vanity, I decided no one would be interested in what I wrote, before anyone else could do it for me.
A note? Don’t do that. It’s insulting yourself, under the guise of self-protection, and it’s not helpful in the least. Who knows how much time I wasted not engaging with some kindred spirit by hiding myself away. No more of that. J
It’s good to see you again, dear reader.
Write you again soon!
Sincerely,
Echo Shea

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.